Aquaponics actually is a mix between aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics - thus aquaponics... the water from the fish is used to water the plants and then back into the fish tanks!! Little loss of water and lots of nutrients for the plants - fish wastes are skimmed off and used in reguar gardening for plants that cannot be grown hydroponically... good system of feeding lots of people... we will eventually move to N FL to set up our own farm.